Year 2, Day 286: Definition of Success

We had a rough start to the day, or rather I did, with some aches and pains, but I slowly warmed up and got going.  I tried to relax, but I knew there were things I should be doing, too.  So I puttered.  The kids did their chores and played, same as yesterday.  Then I met a young woman who wanted to buy more flexi clips at Starbucks.  She was super excited and bought several of them! That totally made my day!  So, after she left, I sat there to finish my yummy maple pecan latte half caff with almond milk (yeah for gift cards) and worked on some more business items before coming home.  I've now put feelers out there to start up teaching piano lessons again, which is something that doesn't take a lot of mental or physical effort, or even financial output, especially if they come to see me at home.  I came home to find Abishai sleeping with Jared in our bed, which doesn't happen very often and the other kids were waiting to start their electronic time.  Some had finished their chores and some had not, but they had their playtime and finished up later.  They ended up having like 2-3 hrs today and 2-3 hrs yesterday, which is a ton!

We had a typical supper of mashed potatoes, veggies, and pork, this time made with Italian salad dressing, yum!  In fact, I'm pretty sure the package was 2 or 3 lbs worth of meat and I was expecting to have some leftovers, but ended up with only 1 small portion left.  Say what?!  Grocery day is tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how our other field trip to the other apple orchard and pumpkin patch goes.  It will be an early morning, so I made sure everything was ready to go tonight, including pants for all the kids because it's only going to be 60 degrees!  And shoes for muddy corn mazes, too.  The 3 biggest got brand new sneakers yesterday from Grandma, but of course those will NOT be worn tomorrow.  But it's hard finding the right size well worn sneakers shoes, too, because often they plan wear out and get thrown out.  Ugh!  I still need sneakers, but I'll start looking when I make a trip to Meijer or something.

After supper I said NO to all electronics and was going to encourage family game night but they all had their own things to do like make a costume, work on some coloring pages, running wild, and playing music.  Can you guess who did what?  Costume - Justin; Coloring - Keturah; Wild - Abishai; and Music - Benaiah.

And it's now super cold in the sunroom so I have to use a space heater (I never leave it plugged in though).  Why do I always pick the coldest parts of the house to have my computer and desk?  I was in the basement in Beech Grove.  It was cold, but not as cold as the front room in Charlottetown.  It was the outer most wall at the condo.  And now I'm furthest away from the warmest room (the TV room, with three of the walls catching all the wind and weather.  It shall be a fun winter!

Breakfast of champions as usual.

The fire truck is now a car carrier.

Grandma left these in the fridge for us to bake up, so I finally had a chance to yesterday!

Abishai is like a "dump out" truck, although he claims he's just Abishai.  He got into these sticky wiki sticks, which are pretty neat because you can bend and reshape them a ton and they don't break.  They are just a little bit sticky so they will stay on the board or to each other.  Occasionally they will pick up some dog hair, but overall, it's not too bad.

"I'm making a road, Mommy!"

Always climbing on every obstacle he can think of, especially the ones that laugh and make grunting noises.

Abishai getting tickled.  He's always so hot and sweaty after having Daddy play time.

Ready to land on Bubba.

This little guy slept with Jared for like 3 hrs and then kept on snoozing for a bit after Jared got up!  And all with the door wide open.  He plays hard and sleeps hard.

" 'Miah playing! Abishai play!" Benaiah is way to big for that 3/4 size guitar, but he likes to try and play sometimes, too.  He was playing piano also today, mostly chords.  I don't think he can play much sheet music.  Abishai was just wanting to copy Benaiah by watching the YouTube video and playing n his little piano.

This is a squid something or other from Minecraft.  Justin pulled on flannel pants that are 3 inches too short for him so he could have blue pants to go with his outfit.  He never wears the warmer pants.  He repurposed his older minecraft head into this squid creature.  He also wrapped two sticks together to make a sword.  Very creative!

Abishai's drawing from the other day.  I guess he's practicing his t's or i's, lol!

Posed and ready too hop.

Let's go!

Little guy's turn.

Practicing her gymnastics splits.  She is making great progress.

Let's jump on Daddy, too, so he can't pop a ball out of his mouth.

" Bububububa can't get me!"  Or yes he can, Abishai!

Abishai's been rearranging furniture in the dining room a lot lately.  He's very determined and very strong.  But he does look cute when he can reach the table at the proper height.

The next three screen captures are of the finally falling temps!  It was 72 and the beginning of the morning and 55 degrees 12 hrs later.  Finally the cold front has come!  I just hope it's hear to stay because I want to use the other half of my wardrobe!

Falling, falling, falling.

Bottoming out at 49 degrees right about now as I type this.  Brrrr, but now I can wear my sweaters!

Yum.

Superman!

He was getting totally flipped over but it kind of hurt Abishai's feet, so Jared just let him walk out of this one into the chair.

Keturah's been watching some YouTube videos made by pre teen girls and they tend to have a little bit of money and get whatever they want.  Anyway, they have alot of American Girl stuff, so it keeps giving Keturah ideas on what she can get.    So another Christmas wishlist was born.

Tomorrow is an early one, so good night!